Christina Tosi Unlikely to Stop at 3 D.C. Milk Bars

Celebrity baker Christina Tosi is already making D.C. the most Milk Bar-packed area (outside of New York) by adding two new stores this year. But the Northern Virginia native — she grew up in neighboring Springfield, Virginia — sees growth opportunities across the DMV.

“I desperately want a Milk Bar in Union Station,” the now-New Yorker tells Eater about one commuter hub that’s caught her eye. “‘I get off the train and I’m like, ‘All of these people look like they need a cookie.’”

Same thing goes for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport — two high-stress places Tosi says travelers might appreciate having something sweet to snack on.

Regardless of what zip code she migrates to next, it sounds like Tosi is determined to make the most of the pseudo-homecoming marked by her debut in late 2015 at CityCenterDC.

“I’m trying figure if we should go to Northern Virginia next because that’s inevitably where I lay my head at night when I come home. And that for me would be I think a very special emotional one,” she says. Now that she’s partnered with fellow restaurateur Michael Lastoria on a collaborative cookie and cream soda, Tosi floated the idea of piggybacking on &pizza’s outpost at Springfield Town Center.

“That would be my hilarious dream,” Tosi says of returning to her old stomping grounds.

For now, she’ll have to entertain herself with the twin developments she’s dual-tracking in the District. The one most likely to open first is the forthcoming Wharf shop (49 District Square SW) — a 750-square-foot facility Tosi describes as “our biggest just regular store” to date.

The goal is to get the 3,200-square-foot space in Logan Circle (1525 15th Street NW) — a multipurpose shop featuring a retail operation and combination classroom/private event space — operational before Christmas.

“We’re hoping that it will be done in December,” Tosi says, citing the holiday season as prime time for baking instruction. She plans to try and replicate the weekly class schedule (multiple offerings on weekends, another during the work week) offered in Brooklyn, New York.

All of the D.C. Milk Bars will be supplied by the commissary kitchen Tosi installed below Momofuku CCDC in anticipation of the current boom.

• Milk Bar is Multiplying in D.C. [EDC]
• Milk Bar Crafts Its First Soda in Collaboration with &pizza [EDC]
• Watch: Building the Crunchiest, Beer-Soaked Masterpiece in Milk Bar’s Arsenal [EDC]